MST3K 323 - The Castle of Fu Manchu
The Movie Synopsis ' in ''Castle of Fu Manchu]] England, 1969. The fiend Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) demands "obedience to his orders". Fu has captured Professor Heracles, inventor of a super weapon - crystals made from opium that can render people unconscious and/or turn the entire ocean into ice. Fu broadcasts his demands to the world. Scotland Yard intercepts the message and puts agent Nayland Smith (Richard Greene) on the case. To get opium, Fu prepares to capture the governor's mansion in Istanbul, where there is a huge supply. He joins forces with drug kingpin Omar Pashu after sending daughter Lin to arrange the deal. Their men storm the castle and behead the governor. Fu then double-crosses Pashu by machine-gunning his men and taking his Russian girlfriend Lisa hostage. Meanwhile, Professor Heracles lies abed afflicted with what appears to be congestive heart failure. He's dying, but hasn't surrendered the formula for the crystals, so he must be kept alive. Fu decides to get Heracles a new heart, so he abducts an unwilling donor and kidnaps Heracle's doctors Kestler and Ingrid to do the transplant. Fu commands Kestler do the transplant or Ingrid will die. Kestler submits, and the operation begins. When the operation is over, the doctors are then confined to a dungeon. Omar Pashu goes to Fu's castle to rescue Lisa where Lin dispatches him with a knitting needle, but not before Fu reveals his grandiose escape plan, complete with the "Entrance to Eternity" - a tunnel with a mechanism for releasing Fu's water-freezing weapon. Agent Smith swims to the castle, races up the stairs and down to the dungeon. Breaking into the control room, he signals London to send a warning to the Bosporus (which Fu has threatened to freeze), whereupon Fu releases the crystals and torrents of water into the escape tunnel. Kestler blows open his cell door with "explosive acid" he found in the operating room. Smith storms the dungeon, liberating Lisa, and the two of them seize Heracles and drag him out the front door. Doctors Kestler and Ingrid race out the escape passage. Lisa runs back inside the tunnel to rescue the now-dead Pashu and is drowned. Somehow Fu's weapon system is reversed, blowing up the castle. He leaves with a warning that he'll be back. Information * The last feature of Howard Marion-Crawford. * The dam bursting scene is footage taken from the Dirk Bogarde film Campbell's Kingdom (1957). Bogarde is in the green checked shirt and Stanley Baker in the red shirt, both are recognizable in this footage. * The fifth and final Christopher Lee Fu Manchu film. * A sixth film was contracted but due to this movie's dismal box office performance and even worse critical reaction, it was swiftly canceled. * All of the footage at the beginning of the movie featuring a large ocean liner striking an iceberg and sinking is all stock footage from the famed 1958, British Titanic film, (1958), directed by Roy Ward Baker. * Although credits state that locations were "filmed in Istanbul and surroundings", most of them correspond to Barcelona (Spain). * Richard Greene's second appearance as Fu Manchu's nemesis, Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard. * Christopher Lee (Dr. Fu Manchu), Tsai Chin (Lin Tang) and Howard Marion-Crawford (Dr. Petrie) are the only actors to appear in all five "Fu Manchu" films. The Episode Host Segments '']] Prologue: The Satellite of Love crew sings the Satellite of Love Marching Song, a jaunty, cheerful, happy tune about their situation. All is well. Segment One (Invention Exchange): The crew celebrates their successful performance, the Bots create a new Long-Distance Telephone Transducer when Joel forgets the invention and re-presents the Big Head. The Mads create a Stinky Bomb that turns anyone into Joe Besser and present another stinky bomb... the movie. Segment Two: Crow tries to present his sardonic editorial on the "Miss Saigon Syndrome", but the pain of the movie makes it very difficult. Crow cannot take the pain any longer and then he and Tom Servo both break down crying. The Mads are delighted with the data. Segment Three: The crew tries to do the "Shriner Flying Carpet" sketch, only for Servo to have another emotional breakdown; he bursts into tears. The Mads order out for a victory dinner. Segment Four: Joel tries to cheer up the extremely depressed Bots by explaining who Fu Manchu really is via artist renderings, only for Joel to succumb to the horror of the film and have his own emotional breakdown and he and the Bots then burst into tears. The Mads celebrate with pie. Segment Five: The spirit of the SOL crew is utterly broken. In an attempt to read a fan letter, the pain is so appalling that Joel and the Bots have yet another emotional breakdown. In a show of power, the Mads toast to their triumph. Joel then challenges them to riff the film themselves, and the Mads fail miserably. The SOL crew wins again! Stinger: A castle guard falls to ninja-like guys. Miscellany * This is the fourth and final appearance of the Big Head. It previously appeared in three consecutive episodes: ''Star Force: Fugitive Alien II'' as Joel's Invention Exchange, ''War of the Colossal Beast'' during segment 3, and ''The Unearthly'' during segment 1 (as part of the mess flashback, where it wasn't actually worn). * The opening song was written by Michael J. Nelson and Kevin Murphy. * This was the first and thus far only time the host and the Bots were legimitately traumatized by the film the Mads sent them. Callbacks * “Glen Manning get off that dam!” (''Amazing Colossal Man'') * “I can remember a thousand wonderful hours…” (''Rocketship X-M'') * Tom hums the ''Catalina Caper'' theme. * "Hikeeba!" (''Women of the Prehistoric Planet'') Obscure References *''"Kinda like a Corvair, huh?"'' The Chevrolet Corvair massively declined in popularity after Ralph Nader singled it out for criticism in his book Unsafe at Any Speed. *''"Oh, he's Kool Fu Moe Gee!"'' A reference to old-school rapper Kool Moe Dee. *''"Castle of Fu Manchu, where you eat square hamburgers with chopsticks!"'' The fast food chain White Castle specializes in small, square hamburgers. *''"Titles by Peter Max!"'' Peter Max was a commercially successful pop artist during the 1960s. *''"I'm here for the Old Gringo audition!"'' Old Gringo was a 1989 film about the Mexican Revolution, featuring Gregory Peck in one of his last roles. *''"It kinda looks like a 'NOVA' special on conception, doesn't it?"'' NOVA is a science documentary series broadcast on PBS. *''"Istanbul was Constantinople..."'' Quoted from the novelty song "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", which was re-popularized by They Might Be Giants. *''"Oh Mrs. Peel, we're needed!"'' John Steed's catchphrase from the 1960s British TV series The Avengers. *''"Bob Hope IS The Mechanic!"'' The Mechanic was a 1972 thriller film starring Charles Bronson as a hit man. *''"Anatolia!" "East of Java!"'' A play on the movie Krakatoa, East of Java. Anatolia, present day Turkey, is located West of Java, present day Indonesia. *''"Would you like one of our Watchtowers?"'' A reference to The Watchtower, a magazine published by the Jehovah's Witnesses. *''"Miss Jane Pittman!"'' The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a novel in which a 110-year-old African-American woman recounts the events of her life, and was made into an acclaimed made-for-TV movie in 1974. *''"David Bowie! From The Hunger!"'' The Hunger was a 1983 horror film in which Bowie played a vampire. *''"What is this? Kirlian photography?"'' Kirlian photography is a photographic technique that some people believe constitutes proof of the existence of auras. *''"You must kill Kurtz. Terminate with extreme prejudice."'' The order given to Martin Sheen's character in Apocalypse Now. *''"Frank Booth".'' The name of Dennis Hopper's character in the movie Blue Velvet. *''"They're snipe hunting!"'' A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke that often involves sending the person on the receiving end to "find" a nonexistent animal or object. *''"Like the ninja version of Days of Heaven!"'' Days of Heaven was a 1978 film directed by Terrence Malick. *''"Yes, dear! I'm doing it, dear!"'' An impression of John Cleese's character from Fawlty Towers. *''"Don't smoke."'' A reference to an anti-smoking PSA that actor Yul Brynner filmed shortly before his death from lung cancer and had aired posthumously, in which he said "I'm dead now. Don't smoke." *''"This is the trickle-down theory of plots!"'' A reference to trickle-down economics, a controversial theory that formed the basis of President Ronald Reagan's fiscal policies. *''"Fu Manchu will be back in 'Sweet Sweet...', oh, who the hell cares?"'' A reference to the "James Bond will return in..." taglines that frequently appear during the closing credits of James Bond movies, and to the blaxploitation film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. *''"It's Audrey Hepburn in Charade."'' ''Charade'' was a 1963 movie starring Audrey Hepburn. * "Women, children, spacemen, Indians, and sort of idealized representations of 16th century Flemish merchants first." A reference to a Monty Python skit, where the crew of a sinking ship don whatever costumes they can find in an attempt to sneak onto the lifeboats, forcing the captain to constantly revise the list of what is allowed on board. * "Not the fish, the flash!" In the Marx Brothers comedy Animal Crackers, Chico asks Harpo for a flashlight, or "flash", but Harpo keeps getting confused and giving him different things that sound like "flash". Video releases *Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in March 2012 as part of Volume XXIII, a 4-disc set along with King Dinosaur, Code Name: Diamond Head, and Last of the Wild Horses. **The DVD includes an introduction by Frank Conniff, Darkstar: Robots Don't Need SAG Cards, and a theatrical trailer. Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Foreign Film Category:Movies directed by Jim Mallon Category:PG-rated movies Category:Film adaptations